SATIRICAL SONG UPON GEORGE VILLIERS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

In turning over some old bundles of papers of the early part of the seventeenth century, I met with the following satirical effusion upon "James's infamous prime minister," George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. As an echo of the popular feelings of the people at the time it was written, it merits preservation; and although I have seen other manuscript copies of the ballad, it has never yet, as far as I can learn, appeared in print. It appears to be a parody or paraphrase of a well-known ballad of the period, the burden of which attracted the notice of the satirist. It afterwards became a common…